Taking the right exit by seeing it from a distance
Calling out “Mom!” to a random woman in the supermarket thinking it was my mom.
Smell
Smelling something that’s on fire
Smelling a vanilla fragrance on someone thinking that they actually had vanilla ice cream.
Touch
Recognizing the alarm clock in the dark
touching a hot stove and realize that it is burning my hand seconds after
Taste
knowing if my food was over cooked
Eating food with artificial flavors, thinking they're natural
Hear
Knowing that my friend was around the corner from the car’s engine sound.
Calling the wrong number and start chatting thinking it’s my friend.
In what ways does the biological constitution of a living organism determine, influence or limit its perception? If humans are sensitive only to certain ranges of stimuli, what consequences, including positive attributes and limitations, might this have for the acquisition of knowledge? Provide examples. How does technology extend and modify the capabilities of the senses?
The biological constitution, or the structure in other words, of a living organism greatly impacts its perception. It could limit an organism's perception, lets take a deaf animal as an example; a deaf animal wouldn't be able to realize (by hearing footsteps) that there is a predator behind it. The make-up of a living organism could also increase its awareness; dogs, for example, have a powerful ability to smell, which influences them in having a wider range of recognition. If humans were sensitive to certain ranges of stimuli, which technically they are, they would face some limitation such as: not being able to hear from a long distances, it would also include positive aspects, such as being able to concentrate in a quite room, where all the little noises (which are there all the time; sounds that are caused from itching for example) can not be heard, and both limitation and positive attributes effect a human's acquisition of knowledge. Now a days, technologies have been having an enormous affects on human's capabilities of the sense. Continuing on our 'hearing' examples, a lot of people that have hearing disabilities usually wear these hearing aids which modifies and increases their capabilities in hearing.
Summing it up, the biological constitution of living organisms plays a huge role in influencing, limiting, and modifying its capabilities to cope with the universe, and with today's innovations, these capabilities have been extended.
Are there stages to perception? Here are some recognized stages. Define them and find examples: filtering: when we focus on only one sense and ignore the others. example: listening to the teacher in class while ignoring everything else that is going on in the room.
halo and horn effect: positive (halo) and negative (horn) first impressions. example of a horn effect: if you're in a job interview, and the first thing you say is "what a boring day it is, and i hate long days", the impression the employer will get that you are a negative person, and assume that every thing about you is negative, and will not consider hiring you.
organizing: the act of arranging different items for order. example of an unorganized situation : "where are the keys?" "they're in the house."; broad.
stereotyping: example: stereotyping mr. tennis as a basketball player for being tall.
filling in information: making assumptions about a certain situation using our senses. example: i hear loud music, and hear lots of noises, so i go outside to see if there lots of cars parked outside --> I'm assuming that there is a party next door.
interpretation: using explanation and analysis for clarification. example: a friend tells me that he/she does not understand a question, so i interpret it by breaking it down and explaining each part to make a better understanding.
Perceptual Illusions
Is your perception always accurate? Provide examples of when it is trustworthy, and when it might not be.
A human's perception in not always accurate. Let's take the sense of Taste as an example: a person could recognize if his/her food is overcooked (trustworthy), while another person might eat artificial flavors thinking they're natural (not trustworthy).
Are people’s perceptions the same? How do you know this? Does this invalidate your or another person’s experience?
I don't believe that people's perceptions are the same, different people interpret things differently, based on their own standards and experiences. For example, I might think that the weather today is very hot, while my friend thinks that its nice and warm. This does not necessarily invalidate neither one of our experiences, its just that each of us interprets the situation differently.
Why might misperceptions occur?
Misperceptions occur all the time, due to wrong interpretations of different situations.
Selectivity of Perception
How do we validate our perceptions? Do we ignore some and rely more heavily on others? Why?
Humans usually rely more heavily on some senses while filtering out others in order to validate their perceptions, and different people rely on different senses than other. We do that based on our biological constitution, experiences, and what we are used to. For example, blind people are not able to use the sense of Sight to validate their perception, so they usually rely more heavily on their sense of Hearing because they are used to using it to recognize different situations and it is usually accurate, so they trust this sense more than the others because of it's validity.
What things might affect how you interpret your perceptions? Is this selectivity conscious or unconscious?
Many things can affect how we interpret our perception. Emotions, i believe, can dramatically affect how we interpret our perception. If a person is angry, for example, he/she would perceive things differently, which leads to different interpretations. I think this selectivity is unconscious as we humans don't have control over them, because if it was conscious, then it wouldn't affect how we interpret our perceptions.
Can you provide reasons why people perceive things differently? Explain
Seeing and Believing What do you create from your perceptions?
In this case, one could ask, what belief or models affect our perception?
This leads to the question of if, or how are, the senses used in the different Areas of Knowing?
Senses are used greatly in different AOK. In visual art for example, we use our sense of sight by creating paintings.
Distinguishing Appearance from Reality How would you be able to confirm if your perceptions are representing what you are experiencing accurately?
If you left the planet and had to explain to an alien what life was like on our planet, what would you say? What might be some of the problems associated with your perceptions? What things would you highlight, what would you not highlight and why? How would you explain that you knew your description was the truth? Provide examples.
First, i will perceive the alien's constitution and try to see if there are any senses we have in common in order to know how to describe these perceptions. I would explain to the alien how we look like, describe our senses, and what we think about them. Some of the problems that i might face are that i might not be able to describe something which is based on a perception and the alien does the ability or the senses to perceive in the same way.
Emotions
The nature of emotions
What is the underlying nature of our emotions?
when most people think about the word 'emotions', the first thing that come to mind is a spectrum of feelings; love, happiness, sadness, anger, and it goes on. These feelings are usually unconscious, or we cant control them; comes straight from our hearts, and often times are influenced by the environment surrounding us.
but thinking about the deeper meaning, what really is emotions? well, i see 'emotions' as a cycle, where we first use perception to process, then going up to our brains to analyze the situation, and finally to our hearts where feelings and 'emotion' are created.
Perception --> Brain --> Heart --> (cycle).
When you feel an emotion, how do you know you are feeling that way? Can you explain why you are having this emotion?
When feeling an emotion, as an individual, you cant really look at it from a different angle and see why you are experiencing this 'emotion', we just know that we are feeling that way, its like an instinctive feeling and chemical reactions in your body that make you want to express that emotion and let it out, and people usually express these emotions physically. For example, if a person is angry, he/she would let this anger our by punching something/someone. On the other hand, if a person is happy, he/she would express it by perhaps jumping.
Describe the process by which you develop an emotion. In what ways do we describe emotions through language?
As mentioned before, the first stage of developing an emotion is perception; we first perceive something/someone, where then we process and think about the situation, and finally it goes to our hearts(symbol) where these feelings are being created and developed.
For a lot of people, describing emotions through language is a quite difficult thing to do. A lot of the 'emotions' we feel are usually beyond language; sometimes we cant find the words that specifically describe that feeling. On the other hand, there are also people that can powerfully describe their emotions through literature and language, by creating new words perhaps that really describe that same exact 'emotion.
Can you reason about emotions?
To me, reasoning about emotions is a very bizarre thing. Sometimes, in moments of grief and sorrow (strong feelings) for example, we cant really control and reason our emotion towards it because of how strong and powerful these emotions we're experiencing are. On the other hand, sometimes we can reason our way through emotions from a psychological aspect, by telling ourselves, or 'lying' to ourselves and actually believing it. It is like a partnership of our mind with heart to stay calm and sane.
What things influence your emotions?
There are a lot of factors that influence emotions. Environment is one; the environment or habitat around an individual usually effects the way he/she feel towards something. The physical condition of an individual also influences the way we feel. For example, if i trip and get my front tooth broken, i would probably experience an emotion of sadness and anger.
Are controlling emotions a good or a bad thing? Explain with examples.
Controlling emotions is a very important skill which a lot of people lack. In most cases, If a person was really angry and couldn't control it, he/she would probably break every thing and punch every person that is in front of them, which we all don't want to happen. The same thing with happiness, if a person was too happy and couldn't control that happiness and calm it down, they might do and say a lot of things they didn't mean to, which they will regret later.
How do emotions change as you get older? Why does this happen?
As we get older, emotions change because we start seeing thing differently. For example, emotions towards something could change as we get older by liking a new kind of songs. The main reason behind this is because of exposure. As we get older, we see new things, learn new stuff, and realize the important things in our lives, therefore our emotions towards things/people change.
Are emotions influenced by culture?
Culture could influence emotions; whats polite in my culture could be looked at as rude in your culture, and consequently develop emotions that express anger.
Emotions as obstacle
Can emotions affect the way we understand something?
Indeed, and I will explain this in a simple example.
If a person was getting a 'lecture' from his father, and at that time, that person was experiencing an emotion that expresses anger; in most cases, this person would probably react to what his father said in a negative way and take it against him. On the other hand, If that same person was experiencing a different kind of emotion, perhaps happy, then he would probably react in a positive way and accept what his father said.
Can emotions limit the reliability or even the validity of a knowledge claim? Provide examples.
Can emotional responses be misunderstood by others? How do you get around that?
Emotions as source
Can emotions be an important aspect of creating knowledge? Provide examples.
What is emotional intelligence?
As Wikipedia states, "Emotional intelligence (EI) describes the ability, capacity, skill or, in the case of the trait EI model, a self-perceived ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups".
Is there such a thing as Intuition? Would you rely on it as a reliable way of knowing? Provide examples.
Can you classify emotions? What categories could you create?
What role does emotion play in some of the different areas of knowledge? Emotions play a huge role in some of the AOK. In English for example, i personally write good essays when i am experiencing an emotion that expresses sadness.
Reason
Are you always reasonable in your reasoning? What does that mean?
Looking at it from my own personal perspective, i would see that my reasoning is always reasonable because i wouldn't reason unless it is reasonable to me. What that means is that each and every individual has their own personal view on different situations, and what seems reasonable to me might not be reasonable to you.
The Nature of Reasoning
What exactly is reasoning?
when looking at the definition of reasoning, it states that reasoning is the cognitive process of looking for reasons, beliefs, conclusions, actions or feelings. What that means is reasoning is a mental process, where we use reason and logic to look for justifications or conclusions to help us do the right thing, or "common sense" in other words.
There are two types of reasoning: Inductive & Deductive reasoning.
Inductive reasoning is when we deduce a general statement from a specific experience. For example: I see David riding his bike to school on Saturday, same on Sunday, and again Monday; so then i will deduce from what i saw is that David rides his bike to school everyday. On the other hand, deductive reasoning is the exact opposite, it is when we have a general idea about something (like a stereotypical idea for example), and then validate it based on a specific experience. For example: i need help with my Arabic homework, i see a girl in a Hijab (i assume that she speaks Arabic) so i ask her if she could help me; from that specific experience and would validate my assumption.
There isn't such thing as "good or bad" reasoning, instead there is logical and non-logical reasoning. Inductive & Deductive reasoning fall under logical reasoning. On the other hand, non-logical reasoning is related to linguistics and language. Culture and religion could also involve a form of non-logical reasoning.
Is there a history of reasoning?
Ever since humans were created, they used reasoning to determined what to do, and what to believe. Formal use of reasoning techniques started long time ago, where it started with the Babylonians:
Inductive reasoning is when we deduce a general statement from a specific experience. For example: I see David riding his bike to school on Saturday, same on Sunday, and again Monday; so then i will deduce from what i saw is that David rides his bike to school everyday.
On the other hand, deductive reasoning is the exact opposite, it is when we have a general idea about something (like a stereotypical idea for example), and then validate it based on a specific experience. For example: i need help with my Arabic homework, i see a girl in a Hijab (i assume that she speaks Arabic) so i ask her if she could help me; from that specific experience and would validate my assumption.
Inductive: Experience --> Generalization Deductive: General Idea --> specific experience
Is reasoning done to produce knowledge about something specific, or something in general? How is this done? Provide examples of each.
What role does time play in judging the truth value of your reasoning, whether inductive or deductive?
Syllogisms
1.
People have noses - True
I am a person - True
I have a nose - True
2.
All men are mortal - True
Dogs are men - False
Dogs are mortal - True
3.
All humans can reason - True
Dogs are human - False
Dogs can reason - False
4.
All humans can fly - False
birds are humans - False
birds can fly - True
War is peace - false
Peace is slavery - false
War is slavery - True
5.
Apes have three eyes - False
Mice are apes - False
Mice have three eyes - False
Logical Fallacies
Fallacies of Ambiguity
1. Equivocation: The same word is used with two different meanings.
2. Amphiboly: The structure of a sentence allows two different interpretations.
3. Accent: An emphasis suggests a meaning different from what is actually said.
Example (accent):
Category Errors
1. Composition: because the parts have a property, the whole is said to have that property.
Example: People from that country are ignorant, therefore the their government is ignorant too.
2. Division: because the whole has a property, the parts are said to have that property.
Example: That country is rich, therefore people from that country are rich too.
Example (composition):
Language
Activity: As a group, create a small skit showing how language might be problematic Students choose a list of problems that language poses in creating understanding and the audience must define what the problem is.
A little Linguistic theory - Linguistic determinism - language determines the way we think. Example: Innu have many words for snow. “The real world is to a large extent unconsciously built upon the language habits of the group.”(Sapir in Lagemaat, p. 68) Each language thus represents a different social reality; it is not merely a case of having different labels for the same reality. The words create a reality and defines our interpretation of it. - Ricoeur on Discourse and Action: The discursive act - http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ricoeur/
It is clear that language and communication is filled with symbols. Your example of the "crescent moon" showed there were many associations with the idea of a crescent moon.
You found individual associations, group, and even universal associations. See the homework page for your assignment related to this idea.
Consider in what ways the term you chose can be understood literally and what ways it can be understood figuratively. I ask you to consider which representation is more true? The literal meaning of the figurative meaning? In what ways does each one convey truth?
As a next step, try this activity. Complete the box below with examples of literal and figurative truths for the different areas of knowing, then explain why one is true and one is not true, or why one is more true than another, or what is true about the statement at all? If these are not true, then what value are they, and how do we get to the truth when trying to decide things?
Complete this chart first:
Homosexuality is the elephant in the room that no one wants to address.
Social norms are like clothes we wear.
How would you rank the importance of language as a WOK?
Is language inherently literal or is it figurative? TREES
-It depends on the situation, whether a person is being serious or sarcastic -Confusion between literal and figurative can lead to misconceptions -Can be literal or figurative depending on how people would interpret it -People sometimes misunderstand what you say and take it literally -We use figurative to add humor -For figurative, we play with words -Literal is the way you describe what it is -Figurative is when you play with words by creating metaphors -Examples: *Spill the beans -When you spill a bag of beans -When you tell someone the full details of a story *Black eye -Someone's eyes (iris) are black -A person was punched in the face and has a black eye *Blue Monday -The sky is blue on a Monday -A sad monday *Rabbit's foot -A rabbit's foot -Can also mean luck
Is language play? In what ways? Provide examples. PLUS SUNS
Do words represent images in our minds or some idea out there, or do they refer to real things? MOONS
- Most of the words can be imagined as pictures or ideas in most of people's minds, and then refer into real things.
- Words that are about real things in life that we can touch, see, hear, taste or smell, are represented in our minds as images or pictures of the thing, though the pictures can be different, but they'll talk about one thing, as long as it's about one specific meaning of the word.
- Most of the words that are imaginable refer to real things. eg.: when someone says there is a dog outside, then most of people will have the idea or the picture "Dog" in their minds, so this helps knowing the word and what does it refer to.
- Words that are about feelings or things that are not touchable or visual are usually unimaginable as pictures, and even if they are, they may not refer to real things directly. eg.: the word "Life" doesn't refer for something real by saying it just like that, but it may make some individual mean or picture for some people.
- Some people make images or ideas for different words, even if they're not real things, to help remember them or make them easier to understand, and that helps a lot building the brain and the memory, and helps making them stronger.
- Usually, words have different images inside each one's mind, so they may have the same meaning or different meanings, depends of the way the person sees or understands the word. This is very similar to the Homonym, which means words that have the same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings. eg: the word "Heart", for some people it may be pictured as a human heart, others may imagine it as a love heart, and some may imagine it as the center of something.
- Words that are universal sometimes have the same picture in our minds, so the whole word will have the same picture when they hear a word like that. eg.: the word "Nine" have a picture of the number nine for most of the people. Some words may have the same picture in specific situations. eg.: the word "Sun" will have the same picture of a sun, when talking about weather or a twilight or something.
- Names that are unique, which means they're not similar to another word, are the words that have only one picture or very similar pictures in people minds, and this is for the situation when talking about a specific known person, and everyone knows that the topic is about him. eg.: "Ludacris" is a common words that will have the same picture for the same person in our mind, or similar pictures, which is the singer.
- Words that are not imaginable are understood by experience and repetition, so people also may make picture which refer to the experiment or the action, and then relate it to the word, so this type also can refer to real things, but indirectly.
- From the previous point above, we notice that the two types of words, words which can be imagined, and words which cannot, can refer to real things for most of us, but the difference is how does it refer, directly or indirectly.
SUN.jpg
Is language be personal/individual or is it part of a shared community? STARS
- If you think about each word carefully, it is able to fit in to each category of meanings of words, which are Individual, Shared and Common. - For some words, there is a cultural meaning that comes up first before the individual meaning. For example, “Cinema” in Saudi, in this culture, it is considered wrong and so, for this reason, there are no cinemas in this country. - The inventing of words are individual at the beginning, but common when shared. For example, Shakespeare and Newspeak in 1984. Some of their words are in the dictionary and are used in everyday language. - Language is a strong aspect of WOK because it gives meaning to the words and how they are viewed differently. - Language has both advantage and disadvantage to globalization, for example, for example when people communicate, they have different views on how companies should be developed.
Is there a difference between the written word and speaking or dialogue? Provide examples. SATURN
When written, words can be interpreted to have any intention behind the words. (this interpretation can be guided and restricted in context though)
Words in context, or dialogue provides a different meaning to the literal word
When speaking, emotions can be incorporated into our words (via, volume, speed, tone)
The interpretation of words can be non-literal or hinting when spoken (Sarcasm or 'playful' voice like Bilal's)
Spelling and Capitalisation on paper has different meanings (Thnx vs Thank you) (March vs march)
Fonts suggests different meanings (Italic, bold, font size)
The words coming out of different mouths have different weight (instructions or commands from teachers vs children)
Many people have accents, this accent when speaking the written words provide a lot more information
Does language change? How, when, and why? PINKIES
How: - Formal language can change to Slang as in when speaking to a teacher or someone older, you use respect, but when you use slang you are mainly speaking to a friend or someone you are close with. - Translation can change when we speak in one language, and then change to another language, say one person has 2 first languages they are able to change from Arabic to English at one time whilst speaking to someone else. - Interpretation of definition within words can be seen as a change in language as one thing can mean something to someone and it can mean something else to another person. - Time is a large factor of change in language as it can mean language changes through symbols. For example if we take Chinese characters there is a history saying that they used to be actual pictures of the word they are drawing (character for a bird would be a picture of a bird) and through time is has developed into simpler characters and not an actual picture. When: - Migration can change language depending on where you live and who you live around. Why: - Easy (language change has become a lot simpler and more efficient for people to use) - Coolness (can be a factor of how language changes because it identifies their personality - Personal codes (eg. own language) - Changes according to stuff changing (possibly technology) - Influence (eg. from the people around you)
Reflection questionsKey Prompts:
Identify a topic or situation. Is this idea clearly true, or false, or where between the two
What makes it so certain or uncertain? (or almost certainly true or false)
How important is it? What makes it important? (important or not so important)
In what ways does the biological constitution of a living organism determine, influence or limit its perception? If humans are sensitive only to certain ranges of stimuli, what consequences, including positive attributes and limitations, might this have for the acquisition of knowledge? Provide examples. How does technology extend and modify the capabilities of the senses?
The biological constitution, or the structure in other words, of a living organism greatly impacts its perception. It could limit an organism's perception, lets take a deaf animal as an example; a deaf animal wouldn't be able to realize (by hearing footsteps) that there is a predator behind it. The make-up of a living organism could also increase its awareness; dogs, for example, have a powerful ability to smell, which influences them in having a wider range of recognition. If humans were sensitive to certain ranges of stimuli, which technically they are, they would face some limitation such as: not being able to hear from a long distances, it would also include positive aspects, such as being able to concentrate in a quite room, where all the little noises (which are there all the time; sounds that are caused from itching for example) can not be heard, and both limitation and positive attributes effect a human's acquisition of knowledge. Now a days, technologies have been having an enormous affects on human's capabilities of the sense. Continuing on our 'hearing' examples, a lot of people that have hearing disabilities usually wear these hearing aids which modifies and increases their capabilities in hearing.
Summing it up, the biological constitution of living organisms plays a huge role in influencing, limiting, and modifying its capabilities to cope with the universe, and with today's innovations, these capabilities have been extended.
Are there stages to perception?
Here are some recognized stages. Define them and find examples:
filtering: when we focus on only one sense and ignore the others. example: listening to the teacher in class while ignoring everything else that is going on in the room.
halo and horn effect: positive (halo) and negative (horn) first impressions. example of a horn effect: if you're in a job interview, and the first thing you say is "what a boring day it is, and i hate long days", the impression the employer will get that you are a negative person, and assume that every thing about you is negative, and will not consider hiring you.
organizing: the act of arranging different items for order. example of an unorganized situation : "where are the keys?" "they're in the house."; broad.
stereotyping: example: stereotyping mr. tennis as a basketball player for being tall.
filling in information: making assumptions about a certain situation using our senses. example: i hear loud music, and hear lots of noises, so i go outside to see if there lots of cars parked outside --> I'm assuming that there is a party next door.
interpretation: using explanation and analysis for clarification. example: a friend tells me that he/she does not understand a question, so i interpret it by breaking it down and explaining each part to make a better understanding.
Perceptual Illusions
Is your perception always accurate? Provide examples of when it is trustworthy, and when it might not be.
A human's perception in not always accurate. Let's take the sense of Taste as an example: a person could recognize if his/her food is overcooked (trustworthy), while another person might eat artificial flavors thinking they're natural (not trustworthy).
Are people’s perceptions the same? How do you know this? Does this invalidate your or another person’s experience?
I don't believe that people's perceptions are the same, different people interpret things differently, based on their own standards and experiences. For example, I might think that the weather today is very hot, while my friend thinks that its nice and warm. This does not necessarily invalidate neither one of our experiences, its just that each of us interprets the situation differently.
Why might misperceptions occur?
Misperceptions occur all the time, due to wrong interpretations of different situations.
Selectivity of Perception
How do we validate our perceptions? Do we ignore some and rely more heavily on others? Why?
Humans usually rely more heavily on some senses while filtering out others in order to validate their perceptions, and different people rely on different senses than other. We do that based on our biological constitution, experiences, and what we are used to. For example, blind people are not able to use the sense of Sight to validate their perception, so they usually rely more heavily on their sense of Hearing because they are used to using it to recognize different situations and it is usually accurate, so they trust this sense more than the others because of it's validity.
What things might affect how you interpret your perceptions? Is this selectivity conscious or unconscious?
Many things can affect how we interpret our perception. Emotions, i believe, can dramatically affect how we interpret our perception. If a person is angry, for example, he/she would perceive things differently, which leads to different interpretations. I think this selectivity is unconscious as we humans don't have control over them, because if it was conscious, then it wouldn't affect how we interpret our perceptions.
Can you provide reasons why people perceive things differently? Explain
Seeing and Believing
What do you create from your perceptions?
In this case, one could ask, what belief or models affect our perception?
This leads to the question of if, or how are, the senses used in the different Areas of Knowing?
Senses are used greatly in different AOK. In visual art for example, we use our sense of sight by creating paintings.
Distinguishing Appearance from Reality
How would you be able to confirm if your perceptions are representing what you are experiencing accurately?
If you left the planet and had to explain to an alien what life was like on our planet, what would you say? What might be some of the problems associated with your perceptions? What things would you highlight, what would you not highlight and why? How would you explain that you knew your description was the truth? Provide examples.
First, i will perceive the alien's constitution and try to see if there are any senses we have in common in order to know how to describe these perceptions. I would explain to the alien how we look like, describe our senses, and what we think about them. Some of the problems that i might face are that i might not be able to describe something which is based on a perception and the alien does the ability or the senses to perceive in the same way.
Emotions
The nature of emotions
What is the underlying nature of our emotions?
when most people think about the word 'emotions', the first thing that come to mind is a spectrum of feelings; love, happiness, sadness, anger, and it goes on. These feelings are usually unconscious, or we cant control them; comes straight from our hearts, and often times are influenced by the environment surrounding us.
but thinking about the deeper meaning, what really is emotions? well, i see 'emotions' as a cycle, where we first use perception to process, then going up to our brains to analyze the situation, and finally to our hearts where feelings and 'emotion' are created.
Perception --> Brain --> Heart --> (cycle).
When you feel an emotion, how do you know you are feeling that way? Can you explain why you are having this emotion?
When feeling an emotion, as an individual, you cant really look at it from a different angle and see why you are experiencing this 'emotion', we just know that we are feeling that way, its like an instinctive feeling and chemical reactions in your body that make you want to express that emotion and let it out, and people usually express these emotions physically. For example, if a person is angry, he/she would let this anger our by punching something/someone. On the other hand, if a person is happy, he/she would express it by perhaps jumping.
Describe the process by which you develop an emotion. In what ways do we describe emotions through language?
As mentioned before, the first stage of developing an emotion is perception; we first perceive something/someone, where then we process and think about the situation, and finally it goes to our hearts(symbol) where these feelings are being created and developed.
For a lot of people, describing emotions through language is a quite difficult thing to do. A lot of the 'emotions' we feel are usually beyond language; sometimes we cant find the words that specifically describe that feeling. On the other hand, there are also people that can powerfully describe their emotions through literature and language, by creating new words perhaps that really describe that same exact 'emotion.
Can you reason about emotions?
To me, reasoning about emotions is a very bizarre thing. Sometimes, in moments of grief and sorrow (strong feelings) for example, we cant really control and reason our emotion towards it because of how strong and powerful these emotions we're experiencing are. On the other hand, sometimes we can reason our way through emotions from a psychological aspect, by telling ourselves, or 'lying' to ourselves and actually believing it. It is like a partnership of our mind with heart to stay calm and sane.
What things influence your emotions?
There are a lot of factors that influence emotions. Environment is one; the environment or habitat around an individual usually effects the way he/she feel towards something. The physical condition of an individual also influences the way we feel. For example, if i trip and get my front tooth broken, i would probably experience an emotion of sadness and anger.
Are controlling emotions a good or a bad thing? Explain with examples.
Controlling emotions is a very important skill which a lot of people lack. In most cases, If a person was really angry and couldn't control it, he/she would probably break every thing and punch every person that is in front of them, which we all don't want to happen. The same thing with happiness, if a person was too happy and couldn't control that happiness and calm it down, they might do and say a lot of things they didn't mean to, which they will regret later.
How do emotions change as you get older? Why does this happen?
As we get older, emotions change because we start seeing thing differently. For example, emotions towards something could change as we get older by liking a new kind of songs. The main reason behind this is because of exposure. As we get older, we see new things, learn new stuff, and realize the important things in our lives, therefore our emotions towards things/people change.
Are emotions influenced by culture?
Culture could influence emotions; whats polite in my culture could be looked at as rude in your culture, and consequently develop emotions that express anger.
Emotions as obstacle
Can emotions affect the way we understand something?
Indeed, and I will explain this in a simple example.
If a person was getting a 'lecture' from his father, and at that time, that person was experiencing an emotion that expresses anger; in most cases, this person would probably react to what his father said in a negative way and take it against him. On the other hand, If that same person was experiencing a different kind of emotion, perhaps happy, then he would probably react in a positive way and accept what his father said.
Can emotions limit the reliability or even the validity of a knowledge claim? Provide examples.
Can emotional responses be misunderstood by others? How do you get around that?
Emotions as source
Can emotions be an important aspect of creating knowledge? Provide examples.
What is emotional intelligence?
As Wikipedia states, "Emotional intelligence (EI) describes the ability, capacity, skill or, in the case of the trait EI model, a self-perceived ability to identify, assess, and control the emotions of one's self, of others, and of groups".
Is there such a thing as Intuition? Would you rely on it as a reliable way of knowing? Provide examples.
Can you classify emotions? What categories could you create?
What role does emotion play in some of the different areas of knowledge?
Emotions play a huge role in some of the AOK. In English for example, i personally write good essays when i am experiencing an emotion that expresses sadness.
Reason
Are you always reasonable in your reasoning? What does that mean?
Looking at it from my own personal perspective, i would see that my reasoning is always reasonable because i wouldn't reason unless it is reasonable to me. What that means is that each and every individual has their own personal view on different situations, and what seems reasonable to me might not be reasonable to you.
The Nature of Reasoning
What exactly is reasoning?
when looking at the definition of reasoning, it states that reasoning is the cognitive process of looking for reasons, beliefs, conclusions, actions or feelings. What that means is reasoning is a mental process, where we use reason and logic to look for justifications or conclusions to help us do the right thing, or "common sense" in other words.
There are two types of reasoning: Inductive & Deductive reasoning.
Inductive reasoning is when we deduce a general statement from a specific experience. For example: I see David riding his bike to school on Saturday, same on Sunday, and again Monday; so then i will deduce from what i saw is that David rides his bike to school everyday. On the other hand, deductive reasoning is the exact opposite, it is when we have a general idea about something (like a stereotypical idea for example), and then validate it based on a specific experience. For example: i need help with my Arabic homework, i see a girl in a Hijab (i assume that she speaks Arabic) so i ask her if she could help me; from that specific experience and would validate my assumption.
What does the process of reasoning entail?
Logical Reasoning:
Perception (specific instance) --i-n-d-u-c-t-i-v-e--> General Principles (common sense, beliefs, "truth") --d-e-d-u-c-t-i-v-e--> Perception (cycle).
Is there good and bad reasoning?
There isn't such thing as "good or bad" reasoning, instead there is logical and non-logical reasoning. Inductive & Deductive reasoning fall under logical reasoning. On the other hand, non-logical reasoning is related to linguistics and language. Culture and religion could also involve a form of non-logical reasoning.
Is there a history of reasoning?
Ever since humans were created, they used reasoning to determined what to do, and what to believe. Formal use of reasoning techniques started long time ago, where it started with the Babylonians:
Types of Reasoning
What are inductive and deductive processes of reasoning? What is informal reasoning? http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/kb/dedind.php
Inductive reasoning is when we deduce a general statement from a specific experience. For example: I see David riding his bike to school on Saturday, same on Sunday, and again Monday; so then i will deduce from what i saw is that David rides his bike to school everyday.
On the other hand, deductive reasoning is the exact opposite, it is when we have a general idea about something (like a stereotypical idea for example), and then validate it based on a specific experience. For example: i need help with my Arabic homework, i see a girl in a Hijab (i assume that she speaks Arabic) so i ask her if she could help me; from that specific experience and would validate my assumption.
Inductive: Experience --> Generalization
Deductive: General Idea --> specific experience
Is reasoning done to produce knowledge about something specific, or something in general? How is this done? Provide examples of each.
What role does time play in judging the truth value of your reasoning, whether inductive or deductive?
Syllogisms
1.
People have noses - True
I am a person - True
I have a nose - True
2.
All men are mortal - True
Dogs are men - False
Dogs are mortal - True
3.
All humans can reason - True
Dogs are human - False
Dogs can reason - False
4.
All humans can fly - False
birds are humans - False
birds can fly - True
War is peace - false
Peace is slavery - false
War is slavery - True
5.
Apes have three eyes - False
Mice are apes - False
Mice have three eyes - False
Logical Fallacies
Fallacies of Ambiguity
1. Equivocation: The same word is used with two different meanings.
2. Amphiboly: The structure of a sentence allows two different interpretations.
3. Accent: An emphasis suggests a meaning different from what is actually said.
Example (accent):
Category Errors
1. Composition: because the parts have a property, the whole is said to have that property.
Example: People from that country are ignorant, therefore the their government is ignorant too.
2. Division: because the whole has a property, the parts are said to have that property.
Example: That country is rich, therefore people from that country are rich too.
Example (composition):
Language
Activity: As a group, create a small skit showing how language might be problematic
Students choose a list of problems that language poses in creating understanding and the audience must define what the problem is.
A little Linguistic theory
- Linguistic determinism - language determines the way we think. Example: Innu have many words for snow. “The real world is to a large extent unconsciously built upon the language habits of the group.”(Sapir in Lagemaat, p. 68) Each language thus represents a different social reality; it is not merely a case of having different labels for the same reality. The words create a reality and defines our interpretation of it.
- Ricoeur on Discourse and Action: The discursive act - http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ricoeur/
Some theories of language acquisition: http://languagedevelopment.tripod.com/id15.html
It is clear that language and communication is filled with symbols. Your example of the "crescent moon" showed there were many associations with the idea of a crescent moon.
You found individual associations, group, and even universal associations. See the homework page for your assignment related to this idea.
Consider in what ways the term you chose can be understood literally and what ways it can be understood figuratively. I ask you to consider which representation is more true? The literal meaning of the figurative meaning? In what ways does each one convey truth?
As a next step, try this activity. Complete the box below with examples of literal and figurative truths for the different areas of knowing, then explain why one is true and one is not true, or why one is more true than another, or what is true about the statement at all? If these are not true, then what value are they, and how do we get to the truth when trying to decide things?
Complete this chart first:
(http://mathforum.org/dr/math/faq/faq.imag.num.html)
Read more: http://wiki.answers.comHow big is an atom?
How would you rank the importance of language as a WOK?
Is language inherently literal or is it figurative? TREES
-It depends on the situation, whether a person is being serious or sarcastic
-Confusion between literal and figurative can lead to misconceptions
-Can be literal or figurative depending on how people would interpret it
-People sometimes misunderstand what you say and take it literally
-We use figurative to add humor
-For figurative, we play with words
-Literal is the way you describe what it is
-Figurative is when you play with words by creating metaphors
-Examples:
*Spill the beans
-When you spill a bag of beans
-When you tell someone the full details of a story
*Black eye
-Someone's eyes (iris) are black
-A person was punched in the face and has a black eye
*Blue Monday
-The sky is blue on a Monday
-A sad monday
*Rabbit's foot
-A rabbit's foot
-Can also mean luck
Is language play? In what ways? Provide examples. PLUS SUNS
Do words represent images in our minds or some idea out there, or do they refer to real things? MOONS
- Most of the words can be imagined as pictures or ideas in most of people's minds, and then refer into real things.
- Words that are about real things in life that we can touch, see, hear, taste or smell, are represented in our minds as images or pictures of the thing, though the pictures can be different, but they'll talk about one thing, as long as it's about one specific meaning of the word.
- Most of the words that are imaginable refer to real things. eg.: when someone says there is a dog outside, then most of people will have the idea or the picture "Dog" in their minds, so this helps knowing the word and what does it refer to.
- Words that are about feelings or things that are not touchable or visual are usually unimaginable as pictures, and even if they are, they may not refer to real things directly. eg.: the word "Life" doesn't refer for something real by saying it just like that, but it may make some individual mean or picture for some people.
- Some people make images or ideas for different words, even if they're not real things, to help remember them or make them easier to understand, and that helps a lot building the brain and the memory, and helps making them stronger.
- Usually, words have different images inside each one's mind, so they may have the same meaning or different meanings, depends of the way the person sees or understands the word. This is very similar to the Homonym, which means words that have the same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings. eg: the word "Heart", for some people it may be pictured as a human heart, others may imagine it as a love heart, and some may imagine it as the center of something.
- Words that are universal sometimes have the same picture in our minds, so the whole word will have the same picture when they hear a word like that. eg.: the word "Nine" have a picture of the number nine for most of the people. Some words may have the same picture in specific situations. eg.: the word "Sun" will have the same picture of a sun, when talking about weather or a twilight or something.
- Names that are unique, which means they're not similar to another word, are the words that have only one picture or very similar pictures in people minds, and this is for the situation when talking about a specific known person, and everyone knows that the topic is about him. eg.: "Ludacris" is a common words that will have the same picture for the same person in our mind, or similar pictures, which is the singer.
- Words that are not imaginable are understood by experience and repetition, so people also may make picture which refer to the experiment or the action, and then relate it to the word, so this type also can refer to real things, but indirectly.
- From the previous point above, we notice that the two types of words, words which can be imagined, and words which cannot, can refer to real things for most of us, but the difference is how does it refer, directly or indirectly.
Is language be personal/individual or is it part of a shared community? STARS
- If you think about each word carefully, it is able to fit in to each category of meanings of words, which are Individual, Shared and Common.
- For some words, there is a cultural meaning that comes up first before the individual meaning. For example, “Cinema” in Saudi, in this culture, it is considered wrong and so, for this reason, there are no cinemas in this country.
- The inventing of words are individual at the beginning, but common when shared. For example, Shakespeare and Newspeak in 1984. Some of their words are in the dictionary and are used in everyday language.
- Language is a strong aspect of WOK because it gives meaning to the words and how they are viewed differently.
- Language has both advantage and disadvantage to globalization, for example, for example when people communicate, they have different views on how companies should be developed.
Is there a difference between the written word and speaking or dialogue? Provide examples. SATURN
Does language change? How, when, and why? PINKIES
How: - Formal language can change to Slang as in when speaking to a teacher or someone older, you use respect, but when you use slang you are mainly speaking to a friend or someone you are close with.
- Translation can change when we speak in one language, and then change to another language, say one person has 2 first languages they are able to change from Arabic to English at one time whilst speaking to someone else.
- Interpretation of definition within words can be seen as a change in language as one thing can mean something to someone and it can mean something else to another person.
- Time is a large factor of change in language as it can mean language changes through symbols. For example if we take Chinese characters there is a history saying that they used to be actual pictures of the word they are drawing (character for a bird would be a picture of a bird) and through time is has developed into simpler characters and not an actual picture.
When: - Migration can change language depending on where you live and who you live around.
Why: - Easy (language change has become a lot simpler and more efficient for people to use)
- Coolness (can be a factor of how language changes because it identifies their personality
- Personal codes (eg. own language)
- Changes according to stuff changing (possibly technology)
- Influence (eg. from the people around you)
Reflection questions Key Prompts: